Gratitude

Sailor,

Your secret is mine, though I am not in bootcamp. Reading it brought tears to my eyes, and I wished I had your address, so I could write. Contributing to this blog was the closest I could get to sending a letter, so pretend it has postage and a postmark on it, and we'll make do.

Thank you for the incredible commitment you have made to your country, to honor, serve, and protect it. What you have undertaken requires tremendous strength and dedication, and I am so grateful for you and others like you.

I am currently away from the States, studying overseas in New Zealand, and I know how it feels to open an empty mailbox day after day. At the same time, it is liberating to follow a dream despite its hardships.

NZ is lovely today. The sun finally graced us with her presence after days of rain and wind. Reversal of the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere means winter is on its way, and today the air is crisp and smells of autumn. The leaves do not change color in my city, as most of the trees are evergreens: they stand stoically through the fall and winter, and although they bend with the angry winds in spring, their trunks remain strong, and they survive another year, which is actually quite miraculous because the winds in Wellington are on steroids or something; they're disturbingly strong.

I should be outside today, enjoying one of the few remaining days of sun, but instead I am in, wandering through the rooms of my flat and crunching on a chocolate bar. In an hour or two, I will drag myself into some clothes then out the door and down a few blocks to the library. I'm not bad at playing the studious university student, I just have to practice constantly.

Anyway, thank you again for all you are doing and all you have pledged to do. Your resolve does not go unnoticed.


Torey